The NBA’s compact and wild calendar before the start of the 2020-21 season

The last several weeks, I’ve been attending my four year old’s basketball practice where he’s learning the basic concepts of basketball. Things like “you must dribble, you can’t just run with the ball” and “on defense you need to be near your man and also know where the ball is”. The point being, in basketball, there’s a lot you as a player have to be aware of at all times and sometimes it’s pretty hard to process.

That aptly explains the next two weeks for the NBA and all of us here at Mavs Moneyball. The calendar is simply jam packed and we’re going to do our absolute best to be on top of things. Per Adrian Wojarowski and Tim Bontemps of ESPN, the NBA and NBPA came to an agreement last night and following the draft on Wednesday, November 18th, free agency will kick off on at 6 p.m ET on Friday, November 20th. The two sides are still ironing out when the transaction window (opt ins and trades) will open, though its likely a few days prior to the draft. The league will also start on December 22nd to meet the contractual obligations of TNT getting “ring night” for the Los Angeles Lakers.

So, those things in order, in a list:

• Sunday, November 15th - transaction window opens (tentative date)
• Wednesday, November 18th - NBA Draft
• Friday, November 29th - Free agency officially opens at 6 p.m. ET
• Tuesday, December 22nd - NBA 2020-21 season begins

This is... a lot of things happening at once. Until these talked heated up, I’d honestly thought they’d start the season sometime in 2021. That meant, past our draft coverage, somehow finding a way to talk about basketball until free agency began in December then making it all the way to January or February like we would a normal off season. All of that has now sped up to warp speed.

Our draft coverage will continue apace, though now we’ll be adding in free agency things as well, including rumors and profiles starting as soon as tomorrow. Check back often as this is bound to be an absolutely insane two weeks, particularly with the Dallas Mavericks reportedly in the mood to make deals to improve their roster now.